zlacker

>>kotaKa+(OP)
I predict Windows will end up going this route before Google backtracks on it.

This is the future; partially fuelled by malware, partially fuelled by the desire for platform control, and partially fuelled by government regulation.

>>wvenab+0I
The malware excuse is just a palatable false pretense. "We have to protect granny!" Of course, she is getting fleeced by plain scam calls, not somehow sideloading apks onto her idevice, but the truth doesn't help advance their narrative.

>>RedCom+7L
I suspect it's not grandma getting scammed by APKs, but people installing cracked versions of spotify/youtube/paid games.

>>Gigach+pR
> cracked versions of spotify/youtube/paid games

This doesn't make much sense to me.

To put the strongest face on it, by "cracked" youtube, you mean a version that shows the cracker's ads and maybe somehow generates extra clicks (or whatever) so they can get money out of it?

Cracked spotify? In my mind that's just like YouTube, almost entirely server-side. I guess you're talking about hijacking ads here, too? I feel like a "real" crack of Spotify would let you listen to music for free, but that should be impossible (unless their SWE's are incompetent).

>>fn-mot+mT
Those "cracked" versions often require extra permissions.

My favorite was a local "discover which on your contacts is on the leaked Covid quarantine list[1]" scam app. It claimed that the extra permission dialogs are just fearmongering by Google, who is in cahoots with big pharma, and wants covid to spread to sell more medications.

[1] In fact, no such leak has ever taken place, its existence was just part of the setup for the scam.